The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) co-hosted a ceremony that welcomed 36 of Canada’s newest citizens from 17 different countries.
At an April 3 ceremony at the BMO Theatre Centre in Olympic Village, the new Canadians took an Oath of Canadian Citizenship and were gifted a Cultural Access Pass, which allows new citizens to explore, travel and discover museums, art galleries, science centres, national parks, marine conservation areas and historic sites for free.
We asked some of our fellow citizens what brought them to Canada.
Adarinne Nkufo, 38, Cameroon
Nkufo lives in Vancouver with her husband and two daughters.
“I came here on vacation with my family a few years back and I fell in love with the diversity that I saw here and that was the main reason why I decided to try if Canada would embrace me.”
Elshat Alim, 23, China
Alim has been living in Vancouver for almost six years and working as a bartender with hopes to become a mechanic.
“At first it was just for school but then I saw a lot of the beauty of Canada and then I wanted to stay.”
Ece Sonmec, 28, Turkey
Sonmec attends school in Seattle but plans to move back to Vancouver in June.
“My sister has been living in Canada for almost 15 years so she sponsored me to get my permanent residency card.”
Saeed Samsamieh Aghdam, 42, and Ghazal Noshadi, 36, Iran
Samsamieh Aghdam works in the construction industry, and Noshadi is an accountant. The couple is raising their two-and-a-half-year-old son in Vancouver.
“I decided to move to Canada to become a school worker,” Noshadi says.
Natalia Kuzmenko, 30, and Dmytro Shevchmko, 31, Ukraine
The couple didn’t plan to live in Canada, but Shevchmko got a job offer from a Canadian company working as a software engineer.
“I think Canada is awesome and Vancouver in particular is great!” Shevchmko says.
Sally Mohammedi, 35, Iran
Mohammedi moved to Canada not speaking a word of English. She graduated as a makeup artist and lives with her daughter in Vancouver.
“I was so afraid when I first came here I could not even say ‘hello,’ but today I am so happy.”
